I've invited Caroline here today to share with you a little about her latest release, Brazos Bride. If you like western romance, then check this out.:
Thank
you, Ginger, for having me as your guest on Cowboy Kisses. Your readers love
western novels or they wouldn’t check this blog, so I’m excited to be
communicating with like-minded souls. Yeehaw!
Loving
the West began as a child. My dad loved history and regaled us around the
dinner table each night with stories of his family after they came to Texas
from Georgia in 1876. Dad was a wonderful storyteller and those events sprang
to life in my imagination. He only had so many stories, of course. Even though
I memorized them early on, I begged him to tell them again. Not that I wish I’d
lived then! Not even on that Lone Ranger set where he and Tonto camped by that
same rock in every show, no matter where they were supposed to be. I like my
life now, thank you very much. But I am always pleased to escape to the Old
West in books or writing.
Another
factor drawing me to the Old West were the movies featuring Hollywood’s version
of cowboy life. Although I must have seen them earlier than age eight, that’s
when I first remember sitting through Roy Rogers’ movies on Saturdays while my
mom did laundry and bought our week’s groceries. He was my ideal man and I
dreamed of riding the range with him, rounding up rustlers and bank robbers and
saving the West from all outlaws. How sad I was to learn he’d actually been
married to that hussy Dale Evans all the time I’d pined from him. Sigh!
Several
excellent history teachers deepened my love for Texas history. Government
classes sent me into a stupor, but I lived for the history portion of social
studies. Now I use Fehrenbach’s LONE STAR: A HISTORY OF TEXAS AND TEXANS and
too many other references to count or list here. These books surround my
writing desk and make reference easier. Of course, the worldwide web includes an
endless supply of other reference material. My husband introduced me to novels
of Louis L’Amour and Tony Hillerman and those books deepened my love for the
Southwest. We’ve read (and saved) each of them.
One
part of research I love is taking historic tours. Fortunately, my family shares
my passion. With one or more of them in tow, I’ve toured Texas’ vintage homes,
ranches, government buildings, a dude ranch, state parks such as Lost Maples
State Natural Area near Bandera, and Texas Tech University’s Ranching Heritage
Center. Not only are these trips and tours pleasant, they enable me to steep
myself in Texas history. Which is a great segue to tell you about my latest
book, a western historical titled BRAZOS BRIDE.
BRAZOS
BRIDE is set is in North Central Texas, August 1870, near what is now Possum
Kingdom Lake. I love this area, and enjoy driving through it in winter, spring,
or fall. In summer, I try not to leave the house. If you’ve been in Texas in
the summer months, you understand why many locals head for Colorado. ;-) Here’s
a blurb from BRAZOS BRIDE:
Hope
Montoya knows someone is poisoning her, but who? She suspects her mother was
also poisoned and knows her father was murdered. Who wants her family
eliminated? She vows to fight! She realizes she won’t last the eight months
until she turns twenty-five and her uncle no longer controls her or her estate.
Never will she be dominated by a man as she was by her father, as she has seen
her mother and grandmothers dominated. If she marries, she gains control now,
but only if she weds a man she can trust. Only one man meets her requirements.
Can she trust him to protect her and capture the killer...and then leave?
Micah
Stone has been in love with Hope since the first time he saw her. But he was
accused of her father’s murder and surely would have hung if not for aid from
his two brothers. Most in the community still believe him guilty. But the
drought has him too worried about water for his dying cattle to care about his
neighbors’ opinions. When Hope proposes a paper marriage in exchange for land
on the Brazos River and much needed cash, her offer rubs his pride raw. His
name may be Stone, but he’s not made of it. Yet he can’t refuse her for long,
and so their adventure begins.
Here’s
a BRAZOS BRIDE excerpt:
She looked at her hands.
Perhaps she was unreasonable. Or maybe insane for sympathizing with a man who'd
had to work harder because of her family.
"I know it is an odd
situation. If—if you wear your shirt and britches, I guess it would be all
right if you slept on top of the cover here." She patted the bed beside
her.
He froze. Not a muscle
moved, and he only stared at her. Had she misunderstood? Did he think her offer
too forward?
She babbled, "That is,
if you want to. You said I should trust you. Well, maybe you would be more
comfortable where you are." Why didn't he say something? Would he prefer
sleeping in a chair to sharing the bed?
From the street below, she
heard raucous laughter and someone called to a man named Ben. Music from a
piano, she supposed in the saloon, drifted in through the open windows. A gust
of breeze moved the curtains and slid across her skin. In this room, though,
there was no sound.
Slowly, he rose and
extinguished the lamp as he moved across the room. She slid one of the pillows
beside hers then scooted down. What had possessed her to offer him half her
bed? Would he think she invited more?
Too late to take it back
now, for the mattress dipped as he stretched out. Quaking inside at the thought
of him so near, she turned her back to him. She heard his weary sigh, as if he
relaxed for the first time in a long while.
"Good night," she
offered, and hoped he understood the finality of the phrase.
"Yep. Good night, Mrs.
Stone." The mattress shook as he turned his back to her. She felt the
soles of his feet press against her ankles. He must be several inches too long
for the bed and she guessed he had to bend his legs to fit. She didn't dare
turn to see firsthand.
She lay perfectly still,
afraid to take a deep breath. Soon his breathing changed and she knew he slept.
Outside the open window the town quieted and the distant tinkling of the piano
was the only sound. Light from the full moon illuminated the room and slanted
across the bed. A soft breeze drifted across her, lulling her in its caress.
With a sigh, she fought to
relax, but abdominal pain kept her awake no matter how her body cried for rest.
Perhaps if she planned, she’d forget the pain and chills that racked her frame.
Plan, yes. She needed a plan
for food preparation when she returned to her home. No, Micah said he had a
plan. Oh, dear, once more he took charge when it was her life, her home.
Maybe Aunt Sofia and Uncle
Jorge would have left by then and things would be fine. Already she felt more
secure. She sensed her eyelids drifting closed and the sleep’s blessed relief
approaching.
A gunshot ripped apart the
night.
The blast startled her and
she screamed as something thudded near her head, showering her hair and face
with splinters. Panic immobilized her. What had happened?
Micah dragged her onto the
floor as a bullet ripped into the mattress.
Thank
you again, Ginger, for letting me be your guest here at Cowboy Kisses. A great
big kiss to you and each of your readers!
Caroline Clemmons writes mystery, romance, and
adventures—although her earliest made up adventures featured her saving the
West with Roy Rogers. Her career has included stay-at-home mom (her favorite
job), newspaper reporter and featured columnist, assistant to the managing
editor of a psychology journal, and bookkeeper. She and her husband live in
rural North Central Texas with a menagerie of rescued pets. When she’s not
writing, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, travel, browsing
antique malls and estate sales, and genealogy/family history.
Excerpts from some of her exceptional reviews can be found
on her website at www.carolineclemmons.com.
View her blog posts Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com
and find book reviews, giveaways, interview, and miscellany.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/carolinclemmons (No E in Caroline)
Caroline loves to hear from readers at caroline@carolineclemmons.com
The buy link for BRAZOS BRIDE at Amazon Kindle is:
8 comments:
Caroline, Alright, you have whetted my appetite to read a Western simply because you mentioned Roy Rogers. Oh yes, my first heart throb too. I loved him as well as the Lone Ranger and I can't remember the cutie cowboy who had a horse named Cocoa...Anyway what fun. Best wishes!!
J Q, thanks for stopping by. I also loved the Lone Ranger and Tonto, but don't remember a cowboy with a horse named Cocoa. I was true to Roy until I learned he hadn't waited for me to grow up and had already married Dale. What a blow!
Oh, this sounds like it will be a great book. Can't wait to read it. Texas has such a varied history and such ethnicity, you could read for years and not know everything.
Ruby, thanks for your help with the injury for my hero. Hope you enjoy the result.
Wow, Caroline the excerpt sounds great. Definitely on my tbr list. Going to check it out now. Best of luck with it.
Caroline, there was a time when I didn't read Westerns of any sort very much, but in the last few years got hooked on all the old Western movies (thanks to the hubby)and now I love to watch and read Westerns! Especially books by Caroline Clemmons! You have a wonderful way of bringing it so alive and making me feel proud I'm a Texan! And I so understand the bit about not getting outside much in the summer here!
Sandy Behr w/a Avery Michaels
Caroline, I love your westerns. They always take me back to a time period I love. The hats, the boots, the saddles, spurs...you name it, I love it. Great job on all the westerns you've written.
Geri
Love the title! Best $.99 I ever spent! Thanks!
Post a Comment